The Grace Spitfire and P51-D Mustang Janie
Debach And the B-17 "Liberty Belle", Suffolk - 12th July 2008
Nosher is invited over to Debach Airfield to take photos of a secret flypast of the B-17 "Liberty Belle", plus the Grace Spitfire and Maurice Hammond's Mustang, Janie, who are all flying around East Anglia for (the B-17 at least) probably the last time ever. The photo op itself is a bit of a bust, as the three iconic aircraft fly over the control tower of Debach at around 1,000 feet - far too high to get any decent photos. However, it's still a nice morning out of the office (plus it's nice to be invited), and it's always cool to see and hear aircraft like these doing their thing. Meanwhile, however, David "DH" Hardaker is over at Bentwaters (where the B-17 is temporarily based) getting in some cool close-up photos of the planes on the ground. (these photos, 0001.jpg-0144.jpg, © D. Hardaker)
next album: A Sojourn in The Eternal City, Rome, Italy - 22nd July 2008
previous album: Lucy's Birthday, and the Anti-Tesco Campaign, Mill Road, Cambridge - 7th July 2008
Spitfire: possibly the most gorgeous plane ever built
Liberty Belle taxis down the runway at Bentwaters
Liberty Belle with 4 Wright Cyclone engines idling
The nose-work of Liberty Belle
Crowds mill around the Liberty Belle B-17
Ready for another trip around the skies of Suffolk
Liberty Belle takes off from Bentwaters
The co-pilot's stick in the B-17's cockpit
B-17 controls
The waist-gunner's position
The control tower at Debach
The lads put out a station ident, Stn. 152
'Station 152's' sign is laid out
The control tower
Unlocking the control tower
Poking around in the control tower
A view over Debach airfield
Another view of Debach airfield
There's a nice model of a B-24 Liberator
Collections of wartime stuff in the museum
Bullet-ridden glass from a gunner's seat
The lads in the tea hut
Getting a brew on the go as we await the fly-past
Military vehicles around the control tower
An MTB boat has foliage growing up through it
The new museum building
Outside, a toilet is randomly lying around
A Willy's jeep of Helton's Hellcats
A mobile observation unit
The planes appear in the distance
Grace Spitfire, Liberty Belle and Janie
The planes fly overhead
The lads look out for a possible return
Just in case...
An operative waits for dispatches
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The Grace Spitfire and P51-D Mustang Janie
The Grace Spitfire and P51-D Mustang Janie
Spitfire: possibly the most gorgeous plane ever built
Liberty Belle taxis down the runway at Bentwaters
Liberty Belle with 4 Wright Cyclone engines idling
The nose-work of Liberty Belle
Crowds mill around the Liberty Belle B-17
Ready for another trip around the skies of Suffolk
Liberty Belle takes off from Bentwaters
The co-pilot's stick in the B-17's cockpit
B-17 controls
The waist-gunner's position
The control tower at Debach
The lads put out a station ident, Stn. 152
'Station 152's' sign is laid out
The control tower
Unlocking the control tower
Poking around in the control tower
A view over Debach airfield
Another view of Debach airfield
There's a nice model of a B-24 Liberator
Collections of wartime stuff in the museum
Bullet-ridden glass from a gunner's seat
The lads in the tea hut
Getting a brew on the go as we await the fly-past
Military vehicles around the control tower
An MTB boat has foliage growing up through it
The new museum building
Outside, a toilet is randomly lying around
A Willy's jeep of Helton's Hellcats
A mobile observation unit
The planes appear in the distance
Grace Spitfire, Liberty Belle and Janie
The planes fly overhead
The lads look out for a possible return
Just in case...
An operative waits for dispatches